Table 3.
Characteristics of patients with and without tumour seeding
| Variable | Seeding was identified (n = 11) | Seeding was not identified (n = 1425) | P value |
| Age (yr)1 | 56.5 ± 9.0 | 55.5 ± 9.3 | 0.8970 |
| Gender (male/female) | 8/3 | 1168/257 | 0.6895 |
| HBs-Ag positive only | 10 | 1219 | 0.9412 |
| HCV-Ab positive only | 1 | 167 | 1.0000 |
| Both positive | 0 | 19 | 1.0000 |
| Both negative | 0 | 20 | 1.0000 |
| Child-Pugh class (A/B) | 8/3 | 866/559 | 0.6176 |
| Tumour size (cm)1 | 4.5 ± 1.9 | 4.6 ± 3.0 | 0.8800 |
| Number of tumours1 | 1.3 ± 0.6 | 1.3 ± 0.7 | 0.9520 |
| Number of sessions1 | 2.2 ± 1.2 | 2.3 ± 1.1 | 0.8764 |
| Number of needle insertions1 | 3.3 ± 1.7 | 3.8 ± 1.1 | 0.3430 |
| Direct subcapsular insertion | 8 | 205 | 0.0043 |
| Subcapsular location | 8 | 476 | 0.0152 |
| Biopsy performed2 | 6 | 730 | 0.8264 |
| Poorly differentiated tumour | 3 | 243 | 0.6674 |
| BCLC stage (A/B/C) | 4/6/1 | 783/447/195 | 0.2869 |
| Completed ablation (yes/no) | 8/3 | 1161/264 | 0.7235 |
| AFP (ng/mL)1 | 1182.9 ± 2668.6 | 577.0 ± 2038.1 | 0.3270 |
1
Values are expressed as mean ± SD;
2
Of 736 cases in which biopsy was performed. HBs-Ag: Hepatitis B surface antigen; HCV-Ab: Hepatitis C virus antibody; BCLC: The Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer classification; AFP: Alpha-fetoprotein.